VOL. 16 ISSUE NO. 44 | NOVEMBER 3 – 9, 2010

BY LINDA BENTLEY | NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Cave Creek sends Home Rule alternative expenditure option to ballot

Let Yetta be mayor?

CAVE CREEK – Call to the Public brought Arek Fressadi to the podium during Monday night’s council meeting. Now that he’s pulled a mayoral candidate packet, he no longer claims to be living in Tucson “in exile from Cave Creek.” Instead, he provided the address of his School House Road property, adding, “I also own a ranch in Tucson.”

Fressadi accused the town of trespassing on his property to reconnect the neighboring property owners’ sewer lines, which the town sought and was granted a court order permitted it to do so.

He said the sewer issue goes back to 2002 when he had Attorney Carol Lynn de Szendeffy draft a development agreement that the town opted not to enter into.

As for the accusation that he illegally hooked his property up to the sewer system, Fressadi said he only hooked up an outhouse on his property so the town’s crew would have facilities while reconnecting the neighbors’ sewer lines and claimed it was disconnected when they were finished. He said the house on the property has never been hooked up to the sewer and claimed that was verified by the town’s personnel.

Fressadi stated he was still interested in entering into a development agreement with the town. And, while the town attorney interpreted the ordinance to say the town “may” enter into a development agreement, Fressadi said he interprets that to mean he too has discretion over whether or not to grant access to his sewer lines.

Mayor Vincent Francia left the dais and spoke at the podium during Call to the Public to announce Yetta Gibson from 3TV’s “Good Morning Arizona,” as part of its newly launched Monday feature called “Let Yetta Do It,” will be mayor at the Nov. 15 council meeting.

Last week, as Gibson washed horses and mucked out stalls at Turf Paradise, where Francia is general manager, he discussed the idea with Gibson, who agreed to preside as mayor on one agenda item; whether or not council should pass a resolution declaring “Hug Day.”

Getting down to council business, Town Accountant Marian Groeneveld presented Home Rule, which the town has been operating under for the past 12 years, as the proposed alternative expenditure limitation option, which must also be presented to voters.

Alternative expenditure options have been adopted by over 80 percent of the cities and towns in Arizona. The Home Rule option, by far the most popular, allows the town to set its own expenditure limitations through the adoption of its annual budget, rather than a statutory formula passed by the legislature prior to incorporation in 1980 based on population and inflation.

The state expenditure limitation formula limits expenditures, even if a city or town has the revenue, which forces borrowing, an allowed exception, even though the town may have adequate cash reserves.

With Councilman Jim Bruce absent, council voted unanimously to pass a resolution to submit the Home Rule option to voters on March 8.

As Francia called for a motion to adjourn, he reminded everyone Wild West Days was coming up this weekend.